Thieves with expensive tastes in cookware have struck two Ontario stores, snatching pricey pots and pans.

Halton Regional Police on Monday issued an alert, saying recent thefts of Lagostina cookware tallied $3,600.

Police said they thwarted a recent theft attempt when one of the two suspects returned to the Sears department store at the Oakville Place mall.

"As he attempted to make off with pots and pans, an alert security officer gave chase," Halton police said in a release. "The thief fled empty handed and jumped into the passenger side of a waiting grey Jeep Cherokee that sped off."

Police described one suspect as being a six-foot white male with short brown hair. A second suspect was described as a five-foot-eight white male with short black hair.